Edit: Build 2 of RM/RMIR v2.07 is now available. This fixes one bug in build 1 and adds support for uploading to the URC7955 with the new Bluetooth interface.

After a lengthy period of development, RM/RMIR v2.07 is now officially released.. The supported platforms are 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, but the experimental support for Raspberry Pi in v2.06 is also retained. The major change in v2.07 is the addition of a Bluetooth interface to RMIR, for remotes such as the URC-7980 that support the One for All Setup phone app. For more information on this interface, see the thread Bluetooth is coming to RMIR. There has also been a revision of protocols.ini by The Robman to correct a number of longstanding errors and the addition of support for a number of new remotes.

This version supports all currently known types of UEI remotes, including XSight and Simpleset remotes. XSight support includes the very similar Nevo remotes and the rather different Monster Revolution 200. UEI still supports the Simpleset remotes via the Simpleset.com website, but it has recently closed down the EZ-RC.com website that provided support for the XSight remotes. RM/RMIR v2.07 provides complete replacement support for these remotes, including the ability to upgrade the firmware to the last version that UEI issued. XSight users new to RMIR, especially ones who have been directed here from the legacy page at EZ-RC.com, should read the Wiki article Getting started with XSight and Nevo for further information.

No special action is needed to perform a firmware upgrade on an XSight remote. Just do a download in the usual way. If a firmware upgrade is available it will be offered. You may install it or not, at your choice, and if you choose not to install it, you are given the opportunity not to be offered the upgrade again in future.

The XSight and Simpleset remotes are supported by RMIR directly via their USB interface, without the need for any cable other than the USB lead supplied with the remotes. Other remotes are supported through their JP1 6-pin connector with JP1.x interface cables that use an FTDI chip. These cables are also available with a Prolific chip instead of the FTDI one, but many remotes will not work with these cables. More information on this is given below. It is strongly advised that you use a cable with a genuine FTDI chip - there are also cables with counterfeit FTDI chips on the market and these too will often not work.

The new Bluetooth interface does not require a cable, but it does require a specific Bluetooth dongle, currently available for $10.45 in the US or for GBP8.52 (UK 8 pounds 52 pence) in Europe. See the Bluetooth thread mentioned above for full details. This dongle works with all the Windows, Linux and Mac OS X platforms that RMIR supports. The remotes that support the Bluetooth interface also have a JP1.x cable interface but it is not necessary to have a JP1.x cable to use Bluetooth. It is hoped that later versions of RMIR will also support alternative means of Bluetooth access that do not require this dongle.

This first release build of RM/RMIR v2.07 is available only as a full installation package but subsequent builds will be issued both as a full package containing everything required and as an update package that contains only those files changed since this initial release. To upgrade from v2.06 without losing your settings, delete everything in your installation folder other than the RemoteMaster.properties file that contains your settings. Then unzip the new installation package into that folder and you are done. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your v2.06 installation and port your settings to v2.07, follow the full installation instructions below and then copy the RemoteMaster.properties file from your v2.06 installation to this new one.

The RMIR menu item "Help > Check for updates" checks for new builds as well as new versions. If a new build or version is available then this menu item displays a message containing a hyperlink that will take you straight to the available downloads for the update. To upgrade to a new build, just unzip the upgrade package into the installation folder for any earlier build of the same version, overwriting any files of the same name. Upgrade packages are cumulative, so it is not necessary to install each upgrade in turn.

To install the full package afresh, for any OS first unzip it to a new folder that is not read-only. For a Windows OS this means, in particular, that it should not be unzipped into a subfolder of the Program Files folder. After unzipping the package, do the appropriate one of the following:

If your OS is Windows then run Setup.vbs by double-clicking or otherwise. This will create three shortcuts, one each for RMIR and RMPB and the third (named Remote Master) for RM. They will be created in your installation folder, but they are also copied to Start > All Programs > Remote Master if you are running a Windows version that has a Start menu. You may copy them to your desktop, or any other location, as you wish. Setup.vbs also creates file associations to open .rmir files in RMIR, .rmdu files in RM and .rmpb files in RMPB.

If your OS is Linux then run Setup.sh from Terminal as a shell script. If the current directory in Terminal is the RemoteMaster installation directory then the command "sh Setup.sh" will run the script. It creates three .desktop shortcuts, one each for RMIR and RMPB and the third (named RemoteMaster) for RM. They will be created in your installation folder, but they are also copied to your $HOME/.local/share/applications folder to ensure that they appear on your Dash. Setup.sh will also add you to the dialout group of users, if you are not already in it. If you need to be added, then it will ask you for your sudo password as this step needs to be run with root privileges. This step is needed to enable RMIR to access USB serial ports without RMIR itself being run as root.

The distribution also contains a text file linux_xsight.rules. If you have an XSight or Nevo remote, you may need to copy this to the directory "/etc/udev/rules.d/". It may be re-named if desired, provided the extension .rules is kept. This file provides a user-friendly name for the XSight as a USB device. Some users have found that Linux systems cannot find the XSight/Nevo remote unless RM/RMIR is run as root, even after running Setup.sh, unless this file is present.

If your OS is Mac OS X then there is as yet no special installation procedure.

With all three OS's, RMIR can be opened without using a shortcut by double-clicking or otherwise running the Java file RemoteMaster.jar. RM can be opened from RMIR with the menu item File > New > Device Upgrade and RMPB with the menu item File > New > Protocol. The instances of RM or RMPB so opened are independent of the RMIR instance from which they are opened, so you can then close RMIR and leave RM or RMPB open if you wish. RM can also be opened from a command line by running RemoteMaster.jar with an argument -rm and RMPB with an argument -pb. Please note that although it is optional to run Setup.vbs in Windows as RMIR, RM and RMPB can always be opened in these ways, in Linux you need either to run Setup.sh or to use some other means to add your user id to the dialup group of users. This need only be done once ever, however, as it is a system setting that is not specific to the RemoteMaster program.

The inclusion of the RDFs, Maps and Images in the package means that the distribution zip file is now about 20MB. The RDFs are in a subfolder of the installation folder named RDF and the Maps and Images in one named Images. The full list of supported remote interfaces is now JP1, JP1.1, JP1.2, JP1.3, JP1.4, JP1.4N, JP2, JP2N, JP2.1, JP3, JP3.1, XSight (all types, mini-USB with S3F80 or HCS08 processor and micro-USB with MAXQ622 processor) and Simpleset (also referred to as JPS and also with MAXQ622 processor). The JP2, JP2N, JP2.1 and JP3 interfaces refer to remotes that use a Maxim processor, the MAXQ610 for JP2, JP2N and JP2.1 and the MAXQ612 for JP3. The difference between JP2 and JP2.1 is that JP2.1 uses a 5-pin in-line connector external to the remote rather than the familiar 6-pin connector in the battery compartment. The latest interface, JP3.1, uses the Texas Instruments CC2541 processor.

JP2.1 remotes need an adapter to convert the 5-pin connector to the standard 6-pin one. Detailed instructions for making such an adapter are given here. The interfaces JP2, JP2N, JP2.1 and JP3 can all be connected with a standard JP1.2/3 interface cable (JP2.1, of course, by means of the adapter) but only one that uses the FTDI chip. Cables with chips of other manufacturers such as Prolific have difficulty communicating with the Maxim processors. This is discussed in some detail in this thread. The JP1.4 and JP1.4N interfaces use the Samsung S3F80 processor and should work correctly with any JP1.2/3 interface cable. The JP3.1 interface, with the Texas Instruments processor, can certainly be connected by JP1.2/3 cables with the FTDI chip. The situation with other chips is not yet known.

When using XSight remotes (and similar ones such as Nevo) with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, Enhanced Power Management needs to be disabled for the USB port concerned. RMIR v2.07 checks for this and displays a message saying exactly what Windows registry setting needs to be changed if it finds that this setting is still enabled. There is also an item "Enhanced Power Management info" under the RMIR Help menu that provides further information on this.

This RMIR version is available only as a Java file. Support for the separate stand-alone Windows compilation produced from the Java code with Excelsior JET has now finished. This multi-platform Java version requires a Java 7 or later runtime environment, either 32-bit or 64-bit. Note that this is a change from v2.03, which required only Java 6 or later. The release package includes the following support files:

protocols.ini including support for remotes that use Maxim and Texas Instruments processors.

RMIR.sys that contains the data needed by RMIR to perform firmware upgrades of the XSight remotes.

The RDF File Specification, Version 4.

The RDF File Specification, Version 5 as revision 11 of an Addendum to Version 4.

An update to any of these files will result in a new build being released, so there is no need for separate updating of any of them. Version 4 of the RDF File Specification covers RDF files for remotes with interfaces up to JP1.3. Version 5 is required to support remotes with interfaces from JP1.4 onward. Version 5 is under continuous review as UEI remotes with new features are discovered, with revisions of the Addendum being issued as required.

Please visit the JP1 Community Wiki for information about how to use RMIR. A link to the Tutorial in the Wiki is also included in the Help menu. Please note that as this project is supported solely by volunteers, the Wiki may not be up to date. This version of RM/RMIR contains many new features required to support the newer types of remote. At the time of its release, these are not covered by the help files contained in the Wiki. RM/RMIR itself, however, shows notes and tooltips (the text shown when you hover the mouse pointer over a button or table entry) designed to make its use as self-explanatory as possible.

The download package is available in the following folder. Just click on it to start the download. The corresponding folder for future builds will contain both the full and upgrade packages.

I know this took a lot of work to get this build ready so I thank you for your efforts Graham, this is a big step forward for JP1.

For my part, I will now start working on protocols.ini to add all the exec code that I have and see what other corrections are needed._________________Rob
www.hifi-remote.comPlease don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

First of all thank you so much for continuing to maintain this software.

I had a crash on the machine that I was using to program my remotes (Xsight Color, PC is Win7) so just installed the latest version of RMIR. I just backed up both my remotes and also wanted to add an activity to one of them as I upgraded in the bedroom from an Oppo BDP-103 to a BDP-105 which has the ability to be used as a USB DAC. However, I cannot seem to access whatever dialog I need to edit the activity macro. Is this a bug or is this something that I've forgotten how to do because I haven't messed with these remotes in so long? Thanks again!

Edit: here's a link to a file I did for a different system that has activities. It's rough 'n' ready but I created it somehow; I downloaded the posted version and I cannot access the "Activity Macro Editor" dialog anymore.

However, I cannot seem to access whatever dialog I need to edit the activity macro. Is this a bug...

Yes, it is a bug that has crept in with a recent fix of a different problem. I will fix it in v2.07 build 2 which I should issue in a week or so, but in the meantime the previous public build, v2.06 build 5, should work OK._________________Graham

If you're working on it I can wait a week-ish, this is not an urgent problem. Good to know that there is another version available if it does become so.

Thank you again for the great work keeping these old remotes alive; the whole reason I even am here in the first place is my desire to reverse engineer the remote for my Luxman TP-117 and without having the Xsights this would not be possible at all. This is a fantastic project and I really appreciate all you and everyone else involved are doing.

I have now released build 2 of RMIR v2.07. This fixes the bug mentioned above that prevented the editing of activity power macros. It also enhances the new Bluetooth interface to support uploading to the URC7955 as well as the URC7980 supported in build 1. I have also posted the URC7955 version of the extender needed to support uploading with Bluetooth. See the thread Bluetooth is coming to RMIR for more details_________________Graham

FEATURE REQUEST
I'd really like to have the Help menu item
"Interpreting Decoded IR Signals"
from RMIR replicated in the RemoteMaster help menu.

I've asked for this many times, I don't think it should be overly difficult to accomplish, nor add an unreasonable amount of bloat..

I think the reason it never gets added, is it seems frivolous. To me it would just make my life a little easier.

The ONLY time I ever look for "Interpreting Decoded IR Signals" is when I am running RM looking for Protocol coding examples. I use RM's protocol decode feature, because it has the option to use mnemonics which makes the code instantly readable. I really love this feature. Thankyou for that.

It would be really nice when I need the help to have it on the short help menu in RM where I need it.

I have over 100 JP1 bookmarks in my browse, and since I can never remember the title of this document the procedure below is what I always do.

Current process
Press Help
Grumble (Oh dang, that's right its not here)
Go to the windows start menu
Open a new session of RMIR
Click on Help Menu
Launch Interpreting Decode IR Signals
Navigate back to RMIR to close the session (or I will get all of my teacups confused)
Navigate back to my browser and do my reading.

It would be so much easier to have this be a one click operation.

I really hope you will consider adding this feature in your next build._________________Remember to provide feedback to let us know how the problem was solved and share your upgrades.

Tip: When creating an upgrade, always include ALL functions from the oem remote, even if you never plan on assigning them to a button. Complete function lists makes an upgrade more helpful to others.

The file, DecodeIR.html, is also included with the RM distribution, so you can find it in the RM installation folder. From there you could add a shortcut to your desktop, which might make it easier to find. You could even pin that shortcut to your taskbar.

Just some thoughts that might make it easier until such time that it's added to the RM help menu.

To be honest, I never even knew that link was in the RMIR help menu, but I do use that page quite frequently._________________Rob
www.hifi-remote.comPlease don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help!

I'd really like to have the Help menu item "Interpreting Decoded IR Signals" from RMIR replicated in the RemoteMaster help menu.

Done. It will be in the next build.

On your bug report, please tell me exactly what to do with the posted file to create the exceptions. In my tests it has behaved exactly as expected. I have done the following:

Loaded your .rmpb file into RMPB
Clicked the Protocols > Export... menu item
Entered the name VickyTest in the box and pressed OK
Closed RMPB and opened RM
Selected the URC-7781 remote in the Remote drop-down, as this is an HCS08 remote and your protocol is for HCS08
Opened the Protocol drop-down and selected your new protocol, where it is in alphabetical order under the name "Manual Settings: 01FF"
Created an upgrade, to test that it works.
Closed RM, not saving the upgrade.

No errors at any stage.

I understand your failure to find the protocol, as I expect you were looking at the bottom of the list for pid: 01FF. It takes the exact name in the Name box in RMPB. The name you give in the Export process is a filename and does not affect the protocol name. In RMPB you can edit the Name box to give it a user-friendly name. I repeated the test after changing the name to VickyTest and it was there in RM alphabetically under that name. But I don't understand how or why you were getting errors, so please give me an exact sequence of actions to generate them.

I will look into the checkmarks feature request but have not done so yet._________________Graham

I've now looked into the checkmarks feature and wonder if your concern is due to a misunderstanding of the purpose of the left-hand panel of the Device Data tab. It has one purpose only, and that is to create the entries in the right-hand Device Translators panel when you press the Create Translators button. The fact that the checkmarks are cleared is of no consequence, the right-hand panel remains unchanged. So the check boxes need to be set only when you want to change the translators.

I can see a case for saying that you want the two panels to be kept aligned, so the check boxes show the settings used to create the translators. But the translators panel can be edited directly, and indeed needs to be for situations beyond those that can be represented by the check boxes, so in general the check boxes cannot correctly represent the content of the translators panel.

I hope this makes sense. My conclusion is that the clearing of the checkmarks should not cause you any additional effort as you do not need to keep re-setting them. Is this explanation enough, or do you still think something needs to be done?_________________Graham

Hi Graham, I'm sorry I am so late in getting back to you, but I was out of town and working on the phone is just too tiring.

Quote:

I've now looked into the checkmarks feature and wonder if your concern is due to a misunderstanding of the purpose of the left-hand panel of the Device Data tab. It has one purpose only, and that is to create the entries in the right-hand Device Translators panel when you press the Create Translators button. The fact that the checkmarks are cleared is of no consequence, the right-hand panel remains unchanged. So the check boxes need to be set only when you want to change the translators.

I can see a case for saying that you want the two panels to be kept aligned, so the check boxes show the settings used to create the translators. But the translators panel can be edited directly, and indeed needs to be for situations beyond those that can be represented by the check boxes, so in general the check boxes cannot correctly represent the content of the translators panel.

I hope this makes sense. My conclusion is that the clearing of the checkmarks should not cause you any additional effort as you do not need to keep re-setting them. Is this explanation enough, or do you still think something needs to be done?

The problem is, I'm not a mathy or engineering type person. It took me 63, count them 63 attempts to send out that simple nec1 signal with 56 repeats. Every time I change anything in the code, the LSB Comp flags clear, and the hex is recomputed. So everytime I assembled that it would shoot a different signal.

I suspect that both PB and RMPB calculate the Flags for Dev!Dev, Com!Com wrong and that's why I had so much trouble. I finally gave up using the flags. And that's why it took me so many attempts.

But everytime I recompiled, the values being shot, changed._________________Remember to provide feedback to let us know how the problem was solved and share your upgrades.

Tip: When creating an upgrade, always include ALL functions from the oem remote, even if you never plan on assigning them to a button. Complete function lists makes an upgrade more helpful to others.

I'd really like to have the Help menu item "Interpreting Decoded IR Signals" from RMIR replicated in the RemoteMaster help menu.

Done. It will be in the next build.

On your bug report, please tell me exactly what to do with the posted file to create the exceptions. In my tests it has behaved exactly as expected. I have done the following:

Loaded your .rmpb file into RMPB
Clicked the Protocols > Export... menu item
Entered the name VickyTest in the box and pressed OK
Closed RMPB and opened RM
Selected the URC-7781 remote in the Remote drop-down, as this is an HCS08 remote and your protocol is for HCS08
Opened the Protocol drop-down and selected your new protocol, where it is in alphabetical order under the name "Manual Settings: 01FF"
Created an upgrade, to test that it works.
Closed RM, not saving the upgrade.

No errors at any stage.

I understand your failure to find the protocol, as I expect you were looking at the bottom of the list for pid: 01FF. It takes the exact name in the Name box in RMPB. The name you give in the Export process is a filename and does not affect the protocol name. In RMPB you can edit the Name box to give it a user-friendly name. I repeated the test after changing the name to VickyTest and it was there in RM alphabetically under that name. But I don't understand how or why you were getting errors, so please give me an exact sequence of actions to generate them.

I will look into the checkmarks feature request but have not done so yet.

Okay I didn't name it with a variant.

When I load the file I gave you I got this from RemoteMaster v2.07 build 2

This is just a reply to your error message. I will deal with the rest in separate posts.

vickyg2003 wrote:

When I load the file I gave you I got this from RemoteMaster v2.07 build 2

As I asked before, please tell me, step by step, exactly how you are opening the file. Also, please post the full rmaster.err file, not just an excerpt. From what you have posted, I have tried but failed to reproduce the error. I presume you are opening RMPB, going to File > Open or clicking the Open icon and selecting your file. If I do the same then the nearest I get in my rmaster.err file to your excerpt is:

where of course the last line is because I closed RMPB after a successful load, without doing anything further. The crucial lines that I do not see in your excerpt are "RMProtocolBuilder opening" and "Opening .... \longpress.rmpb", which is why I wonder whether the steps you are taking are really the right ones to open your file in RMPB._________________Graham